HAWK’S SKATEBOARD HEADS TO SMITHSONIAN MUSEUM

Keepsake goes from the street into history

Skateboard planted underneath him, Tony Hawk kicked and pushed down his San Diego-area driveway for the first time, mimicking his older brother, a skateboarder.

“I went to the end of the alley, ran into the fence,” Hawk told
ESPN.com, describing his first skate session back in 1977. “Then, I picked it up and turned it around. My brother (Steve) was laughing because I couldn’t figure out how to turn.”

Hawk will donate it to the Culture and Arts Division of the Smithsonian National Museum of American History during a ceremony “exploring innovation and invention in skateboarding and its influence on endemic and mainstream culture.”

“I had to get my brother’s blessing first. He told me, ‘That’s where I think it belongs,’ ” Hawk said.

“Somehow, I managed to hold on to it through all the years.”

The skateboard, which boasts a three-plus decade shelf life, is the latest addition to an already extensive collection of sporting items inside the famed museum.